Most people feel that beauty pageants are just a platform to showcase physical beauty. But in my opinion, these pageants are a lot more than just that! Beauty pageants teach the contestants some valuable lessons about life.
From all my experience gathered over the years as a beauty pageant organizer, I can confidently say that these pageants transform the girls into confident, intelligent girls who are all ready to face the world.
So, if you are a youngster looking at boosting your confidence levels, developing a positive attitude, and improving your communication skills, I reckon you must, at least once in your life, participate in a beauty pageant.
Once you are on that stage, your school grades, qualifications, family background, or financial status don’t matter at all. The only things that matters are your self-confidence and your positive attitude towards life.
Here’s a lowdown on my Top 6 reasons why you must participate in a beauty pageant:
1) Because Everyone Is Beautiful In Their Own Unique Way
Much in contrast to what the perception of ‘beauty is in society, the definition of ‘beauty is a lot more inclusive in the world of ‘beauty pageants’. Thankfully, here, it’s not just about pretty faces, fair complexion, or flawless skin. It goes a whole lot deeper than that. When it comes to Beauty Pageants, ‘beauty’ is also defined as a reflection of one’s values, thoughts, and attitude. It’s not your color, caste, or religion that’ll help you win. But your purity of thoughts and internal beauty could definitely take you a long way.
2) Beauty Pageants Motivate You To Stay Fit
Beauty Pageants are a whole lot more accepting these days. They do not encourage people to change their physical appearances but definitely do emphasize physical fitness. They endorse lifestyle changes like eating healthy, waking up early, exercising, yoga, etc. It’s an undeniable fact that these lifestyle changes can take not only your physical but also your mental well-being several notches higher.
3) Because You All Are Winners
During my first year in college, I was extremely keen to participate in the ‘Mr. Fresher Contest’ but severely lacked the confidence to do so. Now, when I see all the young girls and boys auditioning at the age of 17-18 and perform in front of such experienced panelists, I truly feel that each one of them is a winner already! The fact that they mustered up the courage to audition and perform in front of a jury is commendable. Also, the fact that they did not let their fear of rejection or criticism dampen their spirits is praise-worthy. All that adds up to ‘winner attitude’, doesn’t it!
4) Because Beauty Pageants Teach You To Compete With Your Own Self
As a mentor and a guide, I always advise my students to compete with their own selves rather than with the other competitors. It’s always good to look within yourselves and find your own strengths and weaknesses. Upgrading your strengths and working on your weaknesses ensures that you transform into a better version of your own selves. I then ask them to look back on their journey from where they started to see how they have been able to improve and prove all the naysayers, along the way, wrong.
5) Because beauty pageants can be life-changing
In my career, I have met so many young girls & boys who would underestimate themselves because they felt they were not ‘good enough as per the parameters set by society. Having been called ‘not beautiful enough’ or ‘not intelligent enough for most of their lives had undoubtedly taken a toll on their self-confidence. So much so that they would be a nervous wreck if they had to speak on stage for even a minute! The same youngsters completely transformed after being part of beauty pageants! Not just did it drastically boost their confidence levels, but it also remarkably enhanced other skills like communication, leadership, interviews, and poise. These attributes not just help you in the pageants world but also in any career option that you would choose in your life.
6) Beauty Pageants are not meant for Models only
Through this article, I would like to bust one of the biggest myths about beauty pageants which is that ‘beauty pageants are the same as modeling’. Absolutely not! Modeling is a profession. Just like medical, engineering, accounting are all professions, so is Modeling. Models get photoshoots done for various brands, shoot commercials and do fashion shows for designers, etc. On the other hand, beauty pageants are open to everyone. You may be a doctor, engineer, model, or student and still participate in a beauty pageant.
With the help of this article, I have tried to express my views about beauty pageants in a few points. You need to keep in mind though, that all pageants are not as I have described. So you must do your research before zeroing in on a beauty pageant to avoid the wrong ones. I will be explaining in detail this aspect in my upcoming blog.
Keep watching this space!
Author – Gauraveshwar Singh (Co-Founder at Himalayan Buzz)
